Which web browser to use?

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

I hope you will all forgive me for posting things like this here. It actually does tie in with participation in an internet discussion group.

Using a Windows OS of course at the beginning I used Internet Explorer. After a little over a year somebody recommended Firefox (and Thunderbird for email) which I have very much liked using due to its greater security and features and not least its fun extensions.

Last night however by following a link at Firefox I found a page about Netscape 7.1 which from the description and not knowing what Netscape is I downloaded.

From the description I thought Netscape was maybe a beefed up beta version of Firefox. But upon downloading and giving it a try (as I am right now) I see it's quite different from Firefox. It seems more commercial and a bit less straightforward than Firefox. The way it switches from browser to email is handy- but for some strange reason it is set up as capable of importing the Outlook Express Address Book but not that from Thunderbird.

So I am wondering which internet browsers you prefer or would recommend? Or don't prefer and don't recommend- like Netscape?

In Christ- Fr Raphael

[Anthony]

I use Netscape 7 as my main browser, partly because it goes well with my Unix OS, partly out of opposition to Microsoft's monopolistic tendencies. I adopted it shortly before Firefox became popular. I have found Netscape fine, except that (i) the full package is huge, which occasionally has led to problems saving other data if i have to reinstall the OS, (ii) a number of sites have applications that are tweaked to run with MS Explorer or Firefox, forgetting Netscape. This is against W3C guidelines, but is a fact of life, and can be inconvenient. (I have not had this problem with Monachos ;) .)

[M.C. Steenberg]

Both Firefox and Netscape use the same engine: Mozilla, which makes their actual page rendering quite similar. It's the secondary functions that are different between the two - and in this realm it's largely a matter of one's preference (though there will always be certain ways in which each will display pages slightly differently). I tend to find Netscape extremely heavy: the programme is enormous, and tends to bog things down quite a bit; and the skinning interface is also a touch bothersome (at least to me).

As to Monachos.net itself, we test the web site on Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer (the latest versions of each), so it's guaranteed to work properly on each (though it looks slightly nicer in Firefox than in IE: some graphical layout techniques are not possible in IE). We don't test it on Netscape, though, as Anthony says, it ought to work fine on that browser.

INXC, Matthew

[Fr Raphael Vereshack]

Both Firefox and Netscape use the same engine: Mozilla, which makes their actual page rendering quite similar. It's the secondary functions that are different between the two - and in this realm it's largely a matter of one's preference (though there will always be certain ways in which each will display pages slightly differently). I tend to find Netscape extremely heavy: the programme is enormous, and tends to bog things down quite a bit; and the skinning interface is also a touch bothersome (at least to me).

As to Monachos.net itself, we test the web site on Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer (the latest versions of each), so it's guaranteed to work properly on each (though it looks slightly nicer in Firefox than in IE: some graphical layout techniques are not possible in IE). We don't test it on Netscape, though, as Anthony says, it ought to work fine on that browser.

INXC, Matthew


I notice both you & Anthony mention the Netscape program as enormous. I've also noticed this.

I also had trouble this morning at monachos. While going back and forth between the Reply to Thread pane and the larger page the Reply Pane along with the two buttons at the bottom froze in a way I hadn't seen before.

Thanks for the advice. I'll experiment with Netscape for a bit longer before I decide what to do.

In Christ- Fr Raphael